#Robin Furth | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

supernovafics · 1 year

Text

𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃'𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆

pairing: steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: 4.8k words

summary: in which a mutual wingman situation forces two strangers to talk to one another. both you and steve are only doing it to help your friends, but it surprises you how effortless talking to him is. simply the idea of love or even deeply liking someone has always made you nervous and scared, and would usually lead you to running away rather than facing your feelings. but, maybe it’s this unfamiliar comfort you find yourself quickly having with steve that can make you finally want to do the opposite of run and actually dive headfirst into what you’re feeling

warnings: explicit language, some drinking, a lil fluff, kissing, implied smut, overall just a fun time

author’s note: first time in a while writing something that is not full of angst and sadness lmao anyway hope y’all enjoy this!<333

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

Steve’s POV

He looked at you from across the bar where you were talking and laughing with your friend. He wasn’t sure what he would say to you. There was something about you that seemed too good for him; the little black dress you were wearing with a slightly oversized jacket on top and the sweet smile on your lips as you animatedly talked to your friend.

It made him not want to say anything to you because it felt like a rejection would be in his imminent future. However, Robin had other plans.

“She’s so cute,” She said but was referring to your friend. “You have to wingman for me and talk to her friend while I talk to her, Harrington.” When she noticed Steve’s hesitance, she continued. “What are best friends for, if not helping the other one get laid?”

He rolled his eyes at that and didn’t say anything.

Robin nudged him lightly. “Also, I’m pretty sure the friend is straight and she’s really cute too, so maybe you’ll have a chance.”

Finally, Steve said something. “Exactly. She’s so hot and I can already see myself fucking up under the pressure.” He took another quick glance in your direction.

Robin gave him a soft pat on the shoulder. “I take back everything I ever said about your lack of charm. Those days at Scoops are far behind us. You’re the best flirt I know.”

Steve was quick to take notice of the grimace she was trying to hide behind her forced smile. “Did it actually pain you to say that?”

“A little bit, yeah,” She said with a small laugh. “But, anyway, let’s get another drink, and then we’ll go over there and you’ll be fine. I pro– Wait, shit, shit. They’re walking over here. Toward us.”

Before Robin could narrate any further, you went up to Steve while your friend pulled Robin in for a conversation.

You pointed at him. “I almost wore that tonight.”

Even though he knew you were joking, he still glanced down at the jeans and navy blue t-shirt he was wearing over a dark denim jacket. “Good thing you didn’t. One of us would’ve had to leave.”

“Exactly,” You said with a nod. “And that probably would’ve been so awkward for you.”

“Why would I be the one to leave?”

You shrugged. “I mean I think it would be the obvious choice.”

“I think I’m a very valuable asset to have here,” He said. “But, I’m also a gentleman, so I would have left, no questions asked.”

“Very, very honorable of you,” You said and then took a sip from the drink in your hand. Steve could see you trying to hide your smile. All too quickly his nerves from before managed to slip away.

He nodded his head toward the glass in your hand. “What are you drinking?”

“Vodka cranberry,” You answered before taking another quick sip. “Absolutely horrific but it usually does the job.” You then took notice of the drink in his hand. “Definitely not as horrific as that beer, though.”

“Hey, you can’t go wrong with a simple beer,” He said, pretending to be much more offended by your statement than he actually was.

“I think it is very wrong, actually,” You told him. “But, I’m a sweet and nice person, so I won’t judge you any further, even though there is a lot more I could say about that beer.”

Steve smiled at that. “Very honorable of you.”

A brief lull of silence prevailed for a moment and Steve almost decided to randomly mention how he actually never had a vodka cranberry before, but you started speaking before he could.

“Okay, full transparency, my friend is interested in your friend, and I’m just trying to be a good friend and wingwoman for her by talking to you.”

Steve laughed a bit. “I was tasked with doing the same thing, actually.”

“Wow,” You responded with a small laugh of your own. “They’re both interested in each other, so I guess our jobs are already done.”

A small smirk played on Steve’s lips. “Shall we get beers to celebrate a job well done?”

After inwardly cringing at the thought of drinking a beer, you couldn’t help but laugh loudly at Steve’s offer. “You’re the worst.”

“You want another vodka cranberry instead?”

“I will happily take that.”

He signaled the bartender and ordered the simple drink. As the two of you waited, he turned to look at you.

“I’m Steve, by the way,” He said and then pointed in the direction of where Robin and your friend were now happily talking to one another about ten feet away. “And that’s Robin.”

“Y/N,” You said and then gestured toward your friend. “And Marissa.”

The bartender slid you your drink and you smiled in thanks before grabbing it.

“Are you from Indianapolis?” Steve asked.

“No, I moved here from Illinois for a job about a year ago,” You answered and then took another sip from the glass in your hand. “And to be closer to my boyfriend too.”

Steve pretended that he was unfazed by your casual mention of having a boyfriend, even though he was very much fazed by it. He came to the quick conclusion that the playful banter you two shared was just that, playful banter. There actually weren’t any flirty undertones to it, although he could’ve sworn they were right there.

“What’s your job?” He asked, even though he wanted to say, “So, tell me more about your boyfriend” because he now wanted to torture himself and hear more about the guy.

“It’s in marketing. Specifically, working on pitches and ads for different clothing brands.”

“Was that–” Before he could finish asking if that’s what you always wanted to do, Marissa was suddenly in front of the two of you and grabbing your hand.

“So sorry to interrupt, I’m just gonna steal her for a quick second.”

Y/N’s POV

You were pulled to a different part of the bar, maybe only fifteen feet away from Steve, and you could see him and Robin now talking.

“Everything’s going great and she’s so cool and funny,” Marissa told you, a wide smile on her face as she spoke. You hadn’t seen her this giddy about someone in a while, so you felt really happy for her and couldn’t help but smile back. “We wanna go to the roller rink down the street that closes at two. Since we both suck at skating we thought it could be funny to do it together.”

“Okay, that’s great and kind of disgustingly cute,” You responded, still smiling because there was something about Marissa’s happiness that felt contagious. “So, now that my work here is done, I’m just gonna head back to the apartment. Car keys, please?”

“No.”

“What? I promise I’m so sober right now that it’s actually kind of sad,” You assured her. “I only had one full drink and barely a few sips of the other.”

“No, I mean you have to come too just in case something weird happens or I say something stupid and fuck things up and need to get out of there easily,” She explained, and due to her overthinker personality, you could actually understand that reasoning. “Plus she’s gonna make her friend come too, and you guys seemed like you were actually having a good time talking. Maybe it can turn into something a little less friendly, like, hopefully, me and Robin?”

“That might be a little impossible because I already lied and told him I had a boyfriend.”

“Why did you say that?” She asked and you were at a loss for words after hearing her question, because you actually weren’t entirely sure why you lied. You were quiet for too long, which made Marissa follow up with another question. “Oh, is he weird?”

“No, no,” You responded almost immediately. In fact, Steve was pretty much the opposite of weird, he was actually kind of funny and nice. And the almost effortless banter you two managed to share slightly surprised you. “I don’t know why I said it, it was just like a reflex.”

“We gotta talk about this self-sabotage thing you do soon,” She said, and it was in honest moments like that where you were read like a book, that you didn’t like that you’d known your best friend for almost your entire life and that she was currently getting her Masters in Psychology. “Actually, in one of my classes–”

“Nope, nope, nope,” You were quick to interrupt her. “I love you, but I’d rather not be psychoanalyzed tonight.”

“We’ll table that conversation for an early Sunday morning talk over coffee,” Marissa told you, and before you could protest that idea, she continued. “But, anyway, so you’re coming to the roller rink, right?”

After taking a quick glance over at where Steve and Robin were talking to one another, you nodded your head. “Yes, but this feels slightly like a hostage situation.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

You and Steve trailed a bit behind Robin and Marissa as you all walked down the street to the skating rink. It wasn’t that cold out, but you could still feel some goosebumps rising on your bare legs.

“Okay, scale from zero to ten,” You started and looked at Steve. “How good are your roller skating skills?”

“I’d say a solid nine. I can’t do any crazy tricks or whatever, but I never fall,” He answered. “You?”

“I’m definitely a two or three. I somehow fall way too easily,” You told him. “So to save myself from a shit ton of embarrassment, I’m not gonna skate tonight. But, I will cheer you all on from the sidelines.”

Steve shook his head at your words. “Since we’re both the extra wheels in this equation we gotta stick together, so I won’t skate either. It’ll be entertaining watching them fumble around, though. Robin’s probably one of the clumsiest people I know. Is Marissa good?”

“She’s just as bad as me,” You answered and then smiled. “So, yes, this will be very entertaining to watch.”

The two of you were sitting on a bench, watching Marissa and Robin hold hands and go around and around the wooden rink. You and Steve couldn’t help but laugh every time one of them stumbled and grabbed onto the other to regain balance or when they both simultaneously stumbled and then fell completely. But it felt okay to laugh at them because they were laughing loudly at themselves.

“They are so into each other, it’s kind of insane,” You said with a wistful smile as you popped some skittles in your mouth; you had gotten a pack from the vending machine that was by the entrance. You held it toward Steve in a silent offering and when he opened his palm toward you, you poured some into his cupped hand.

“Yeah, they’re disgustingly cute,” Steve responded as he ate the skittles you gave him. “They also probably wouldn’t even notice if we left right now.”

“That’s so true,” You told him, and then almost immediately remembered something. “Wait, shit. Marissa has the car keys, so I can’t even drive home.”

“I can drive you.”

Steve was still practically a stranger to you, so it probably would’ve made more sense for you to say no to him, but you found yourself not wanting to say no to his offer. And you promptly decided that you would not think about why you felt that way.

“Okay,” You said with a nod and got up from the bench you two were sitting on, and then adjusted your dress which had ridden up a bit.

The two of you finished off the rest of the skittles as you walked back toward the bar and headed to the small parking lot that was attached to it.

You stepped into Steve’s car and got comfortable in the passenger seat. “Okay, so feel free to say no, but I’m kinda hungry and those skittles weren’t enough, and McDonald's sounds like both a very bad idea but also a very good one right now.”

Steve laughed at that. “I think it's a great idea. And I’m pretty sure there’s one that’s five minutes away.”

“That’s the exact reason why it was on my mind,” You said with a smile and buckled your seatbelt as Steve began driving.

Barely fifteen minutes later, you two were sat in the McDonald’s parking lot eating burgers and fries in Steve’s car. It was quiet, which made sense since you were both enjoying the fast food that would probably murder your stomachs later, and the only sound filling the car aside from the chewing noises was the random songs playing on the radio.

You were suddenly hit with the realization that you had never been this comfortable around a guy before. If the circumstances were different, and if it wasn’t Steve sitting next to you right then, you knew that you would’ve been so much more self-conscious about the way you were eating and if you were doing it too “messily.” And you also knew that you’d be so much more worried about the silence because it had never felt this relaxed with someone that you barely knew before.

“I lied earlier,” You abruptly said as you ate one of the few stray fries you had left.

“About what?”

You could feel his gaze on you, but you refused to meet his eyes right then because you had a feeling you’d get all flustered if you did, so instead, you kept your eyes trained forward as you answered his question. “I, um, I actually don’t have a boyfriend.”

Steve was quiet for a few moments and you wondered if he was mad at you for lying to him. When you finally forced yourself to look at him, you saw that he was smiling.

You let out a small laugh. “Damn, don’t look so happy that I’m actually single and alone.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just… I don’t know,” Steve trailed off for a second and you looked at him with confused eyes until he said his next words. “I’m glad that it was a lie.”

You didn’t push him further on what he meant by that, mainly because a large part of you felt like you could easily read between those lines, and you couldn’t help but smile a little.

You simply hummed in response and grabbed your soda from the cup holder and took a sip from what was barely left of it.

When you placed it back down, you glanced at Steve. “I’m just now realizing how shit my small talk skills are because I never reciprocated and asked you if you’re from here or not.”

“I’ve definitely been thinking about that the entire time we’ve been together,” He told you, and you could hear the joking undertones in his voice. “Something like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe she doesn’t care about my life story. She probably hates me.’”

You laughed despite yourself. “Stop, I really do feel bad. Also, if I did hate you, you’d definitely know it, and I probably wouldn’t be in a car with you right now.”

“Okay, glad to know you like me.”

“Indifference is also not hate, just so you know.”

He placed a hand over his chest in mock offense. “Ouch.”

“I’m fully kidding. You just set me up too perfectly for that one.” A small laugh fell from your lips. “Anyway, tell me your life story because I do care.”

Steve smiled at that. “I’m not from Indianapolis, but I am from Indiana. Me and Robin used to live in a small town called Hawkins. It’s maybe like two or three hours from here.”

“Why’d you guys come here?”

“Just wanted a change, I guess.”

You turned your head to look at him and he immediately met your gaze. “That answer had the perfect amount of vagueness.”

Steve was quiet for a moment and then he smirked at you. “I actually moved here to be closer to my girlfriend.”

“The fake boyfriend or girlfriend card can only be used once in a conversation, and since I already used it you gotta give me something else,” You told him, your voice completely serious even though you were trying your hardest not to laugh.

“Oh sorry, I meant wife, actually.”

You couldn’t help but laugh that time. “Okay, I’ll allow that.”

He smiled. “Thank you.”

“Hm, but it’s pretty weird to be alone in a car with a random girl when you have a wife at home.”

“She likes when I put myself out there,” He said with a small shrug.

It was entirely too hard to hide your amused smile, but you still broke eye contact with him and looked straight ahead as you bit your lip to do so. “Very interesting dynamic you two have.”

“Yeah, it works well for us, though.” He nodded and then changed the subject. “Okay, this is random and a completely different topic from me and my fictional wife, but I wanted to ask you this earlier. With your job, the marketing and clothing stuff, was that always what you wanted to do?”

Hearing him ask you about your job slightly surprised you because it had been such a brief part of your conversation earlier that you barely even remembered telling it to him. Your eyes met his again.

“I don’t know. Honestly, not really. It was one of the things that kind of just… happened? When the opportunity fell into my lap I didn’t wanna say no to it, and I really love the job, actually,” You explained, keeping your answer brief and somewhat to the point because there was a lot more that you could’ve said to him about how you ended up where you currently were job-wise.

Like how you’d felt as if you had been in such a rut in your life before you met Louisa, your now boss, at the coffee shop that you worked at in your hometown. And how she ultimately offered you the job on a random Wednesday after you gave her her usual coffee and then when noticing how irritated she looked as she stared at a campaign that her team had been working on for the past few weeks, you stated that the font should be changed and the slogan should be reworked too, and then offered a suggestion for a new slogan that was near perfect in her eyes. You solved the problem she’d been having for days with such ease that it slightly took her aback and she offered you the job right then and there. And the opportunity kind of felt a little too perfect because even though it was in a different state, you were completely ready for a change and Marissa was already in Indianapolis for college.

But you didn’t want to ramble too much to Steve right then.

“Although, it probably doesn’t look like I work with clothes because this outfit kinda sucks.” You then smiled at him. “I should’ve just worn yours like I initially wanted to tonight.”

He let out a small laugh. “What you’re wearing definitely does not suck, it was one of the reasons why I was so nervous to talk to you tonight.”

You had to roll your eyes at that because you fully did not believe him. “Oh, whatever.”

“I’m completely serious,” He told you. “When Robin noticed Marissa and then pointed you out too, I immediately thought you were way too good for me, and my brain shut off completely. It’s a very good thing you guys came up to us because my initial words to you probably would’ve been something very stupid.”

“You thought I was too good for you?” Your words had come out sounding completely confused and a little amused because you were certain that he had to be joking.

“There was just something about you. Really cool, very hot, a little intimidating.”

You pretended as if you were entirely unfazed by the “very hot” comment, although it made your heart constrict. “What about now? Do you still think I’m “too good”?”

“Oh, definitely.” There was so much certainty behind his two words that you actually felt kinda flattered; mostly confused, but also a little flattered.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m probably the opposite of too good,” You said and before he could potentially rebuttal your statement, you continued and slightly shifted the subject. “What about you, though? What’s your job or whatever you do?”

“My dad set me up with this job at his friend’s company here,” Steve answered, his voice was softer, almost as if he was slightly embarrassed by his answer. “Probably one of the only good things he’s ever done for me. But, I do think his main motive was to just get me out of the house; which I was honestly very happy to do.”

“Another person with parent issues. Glad to know we always somehow manage to find each other. Mine’s with my mom, though,” You said, cracking a small smile and Steve smiled back at you. “But, anyway, do you like the job?”

He was quick to shake his head. “It’s really corporate and feels a little useless.”

You nodded understandingly at his answer. “Do you know what you wanna do instead?”

Steve was quiet for a few moments and you could tell from the look on his face that he was truly thinking about his answer. “The last few years have been really weird, to say the least, and I had no time to really think about the future. But now that I can, I’m still trying to figure out what I want.”

There was something about the way he briefly talked about whatever he had gone through back home that told you that he didn’t want to delve further into an explanation about it, at least not right then. So, you didn’t ask him to elaborate, even though you were really curious.

“You’ll figure it out,” You said instead. “Sometimes it’s the random opportunity that falls into your lap that makes you realize exactly what you want and what actually makes you happy.”

What you didn't say, but did realize in that moment, was that maybe he was the “random opportunity” that had fallen into your lap that night.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

Hours passed and the two of you kept talking and couldn’t seem to stop. Midnight turned to one in the morning and then one in the morning turned to two, and you were still sitting in Steve’s car, laughing and talking about nothing but also everything.

Something about this moment with him felt significant to you. Like the start of something new, something good. And of course, that scared you a lot, for the same reason you had lied to him earlier about having a boyfriend. But, for the first time in a long time, you felt scared in a good way, if that was even possible.

You ended up in the parking lot of your apartment building around two-thirty with plans to finally say goodnight to one another. However, you felt so comfortable in his car and with Steve that you found it hard to make yourself leave, even though you were slowly getting more and more tired and Steve easily noticed it.

“You’re falling asleep.”

You turned to him, head still resting against the headrest and eyes still shut. “Only a little bit.”

“Let me walk you upstairs.”

You didn’t necessarily want to leave, but you still gave Steve a small nod because you did feel like you were going to fully pass out at any moment. “Okay. But, you might immediately regret coming up because the elevator in the building is broken and I’m on the fifth floor.”

“That’s fine. My years of being a high school athlete have prepared me for this moment.”

“Well, in that case, can I request a piggyback ride because I didn’t play sports in school, and I easily get winded walking up these stairs.”

“I know you’re probably joking but I would happily do that.”

You almost responded with “Piggyback rides are no joking matter,” even though you definitely were joking, but when you finally opened your eyes and noticed the soft smile that Steve was giving you, you immediately felt flustered.

Fuck, you really liked him, and maybe it should’ve been the hours of nonstop conversation and laughter that told you that, but instead, it was him smiling at you like no guy ever had before and practically offering to give you a piggyback ride up five flights of stairs that let you know just how in deep you already were.

“I don’t think your wife would approve of that,” You finally said and Steve laughed.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

When the two of you were standing in front of your apartment door, following the trek up the stairs that managed to only slightly wind you, you looked at Steve.

“Thanks for the ride and the food and yeah… Just thanks for everything that happened tonight, really.” It surprised you how nervous you were right then, and if Steve noticed your nervousness, he didn’t make it seem like he did.

“Thank you for everything too. Those skittles were great,” He said and you couldn’t help but smile at that.

You moved toward your door, but before putting your key in it and saying a final goodbye to Steve, you abruptly turned around and let your mouth move quicker than your brain.

“Can I try something really quick?”

A confused look crossed his face. “Okay?”

You moved closer to him, closing the barely there space between you two, and placed a hand on his cheek. Your other hand found his shoulder and you pushed yourself up on your toes a bit so that you could softly slot your lips against his. You had absolutely no idea where this sudden burst of confidence was coming from, but, at that moment, you forced yourself not to question it and instead jump headfirst into your feelings.

It was easy to tell that Steve was surprised by the kiss, and you almost pulled away and apologized profusely for doing it, but then something switched in a matter of milliseconds and he was oh so quickly kissing you back. Hands found your waist, and you could feel the warmth radiating from his touch through the thin material of your dress.

You were softly pressed against the door as Steve deepened the kiss, and your hands moved and found home in the hair at the nape of his neck. Everything about that moment felt easy; easy and right. Your mouths moved against each other almost as if it was second nature and it almost upset you how this had not happened sooner because of how right it was. So fucking right.

And this quickly became one of those moments that you wanted to be etched in your memory forever while simultaneously never wanting it to end in the first place.

When you finally pulled away, mainly to catch your breath, you looked up at him and smiled. “You taste like onions.”

“So do you. Maybe that McDonald’s really was a bad idea.”

Steve was looking at you so sweetly that it made you want to kiss him again and then a thousand more times after that. However, before you could even get that second kiss in, the door opened behind you.

You yelped at the sudden action and Steve’s hands immediately tightened on your waist so that you wouldn’t fall back.

“Oh, shit, my bad.”

It was Robin’s voice and you were confused to see her right then, standing in your doorway, until you noticed Marissa a bit behind her and the slightly disheveled states they were both in. You didn’t want to think about what they had just finished doing. You were also surprised that you didn’t notice Marissa’s car in the parking lot, but your thoughts had mainly been on Steve, so it slightly made sense.

“Wow, perfect timing, Harrington,” Robin said, and then saw the close proximity between you and Steve. “Unless you two were…?”

“No, we were just saying goodnight,” You told her and then turned to Steve, letting your hands fall from where they were still wrapped around the back of his neck. “Goodnight.”

Instead of initially responding with a simple goodnight of his own, he leaned down and kissed you again. It was a quick one and when he pulled back, he smiled at you and your flustered expression. “Goodnight.”

“I hate you for that. Now Marissa’s gonna force me to do a huge storytime,” You whispered, only half-heartedly glaring at him because a part of you still felt way too high on cloud nine from kissing him.

“Make sure to tell her how great I am,” He whispered back and then pressed a kiss to your forehead. Your heart fluttered at the simple yet tender action as he let go of your waist and moved away from you, he and Robin both started heading toward the stairwell.

When the door was closed and it was only you and Marissa left alone in your shared apartment, she immediately smiled at you. “Hell yes, so we can do double dates.”

You playfully rolled your eyes at her excited statement, but you had to admit, you felt a little excited too.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

let me know ur thoughts<333

(((part two!)))

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fic #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington x you #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x fem!reader #stranger things fic #stranger things fluff #stranger things imagine

997 notes · View notes

liminalpebble · 3 months

Text

Eddie's Education, Chapter 27

Masterlist link

Minors DNI

Chapter 27

It was heartrending for Eddie to watch when Leia's eyes clouded over into the milky unseeing white, and yet his eyes were cemented in place. She rose from the grass like a marionette, pulled by strings to her full height, then languidly stepped forward in her trance, hair whipping out behind her like a black flag on the frigid nocturnal wind.

Eddie and Dustin nodded to each other, ready to execute the part of the plan they hadn't told Leia about. Her consciousness was with Vecna now, but they would keep her body away from crossing the threshold. They would dangle her corporeal form before him long enough to distract him and then snatch her away. Eddie felt a bit guilty that they had to hide this from her, but it was safer for her not to know, considering Venca's clear vantage point within her mind.

Eddie itched to grab her immediately, and it took all his will power to allow her to move inexorably closer, and closer, and closer to the devil himself and his kingdom. He took heaving anxious breaths, jaw clenched, as he watched Dustin for the cue. As she moved towards the vermilion rend in reality itself all he could see was her silhouette; her little body like a shadow puppet tugged forward. Wrenching his eyes away, he looked to Dustin who finally, finally, nodded for him to move. They ran over grabbing both of her arms and pulled with all their might.

----

From her jagged throne in Vecna's mind palace, Leia watched the scene unfold like a movie, relayed to them by her own eyes. She watched powerless from inside as they tried to hold her back, but her body simply flung them away like rag dolls with bolts of red energy. Leia winced as she heard the two men thud heavily and against the ground, then heard Dustin's frantic exclamation. “Shit...shit. I didn't think he could do that anymore.”

Beside her, Vecna released a deep satisfied laugh and said, “Oh, but I can.”

Leia felt her heart sink even though she suspected they would try this, and suspected just as strongly that it wouldn't work.As her friends still fought valiantly for her, she tried to make peace with the fact that she might really have to sacrifice herself, after all. It was no longer hypothetical, and it was terrifying.

Robin and Steve shot off like rockets to assist, using all their might to hold her back, but to no avail. They only received the same bruising blow from the blinding red bolts. He was too strong, they realized, as a wave of panic crossed each of their faces in turn. Seeing this, Leia begged silently, Come on! It doesn't matter. We knew we were risking me. We were ready for it. We still have a chance! And squirmed against the restraints of the thorny throne. Vecna only watched her and laughed, sending trepidation trickling through her veins like ice water. She thought she was ready for it, but now, with evil incarnate's laugh in her ears and in her mind, who could really be ready? Who could ever not be afraid? She wanted a life as much as any of them...a life with Eddie. The thought made her struggle all the more fiercely until the world shifted and dropped.

Leia felt a nauseating lurch as she surfaced into consciousness within her physical body, just in time to hear her friends screaming her name into the chilly air. Abruptly, the din was muffled by the warm slimy broth of the upside down. It sucked her in, as if it were a living, conscious, hungry thing (and maybe it was). Her heartbeat began to race in panic as she felt her lungs struggle for breath, stuck in a suffocating press beneath the fluid. Pushing in hard strokes against the heavy water, she tried with all her might to kick and heave her way to the surface. It seemed impossibly deep, like the floor had fallen out and now the sides of the little pool had become the dark-tunneled walls of a well, closing in on all side as the light failed to reach her. Around her vision, a halo of smoky shadow closed in, further, further, further, until her eyes shut. In the oppressive silence, she drifted. She sank.

The tug of a strong limb hooking around her waist jolted her back into wakefulness. She tried again to scramble for the surface. Somewhere in the back of her mind she thought, Eddie?, and her heart lifted, thinking it might be him pulling her out.

A grating chuckle rang through her mind as vines and sinews shot out to still and surround her wriggling limbs. They pulled her until she smacked against a tree trunk...no, not a tree trunk...a torso of desiccated flesh, one she had only seen in her mind thus far.

He can't save you now, little Leia, but I can.

A huge clawed hand caged her head in as the need for oxygen became a desperate tight hiccup in her chest. Vecna pulled her writhing form against himself and latched his mouth over hers; a horrific parody of a romantic kiss.

Heat like a furnace roiled from the monster's throat into hers, crashing past her airway and trickling across the flesh of her lungs. The burning ache was excruciating, and the acrid smell and taste of ash permeated her senses, soaked up like a sponge by every internal membrane of her respiratory system. The delicate skin of her tongue and mouth felt like tissue paper, parched and feeble. The ache subsided into a dull throb as she realized she was no longer struggling for air, but sharing some substitute for it with her captor. Her lungs heaved in relief and her body slumped against the rigid form of the monster gripping her. She heard him in her mind, even as his physical tongue busied itself tasting her mouth, reveling in the sweet last hints of its moisture.

You're acclimating. Give it time. He commanded, as the burn faded into a dull feeling; bruised and parched. She had no strength to respond or even struggle against his revolting contact. She wasn't sure how she knew it, but she thought to herself, he's giving me air and poison all at once.

Hmm. Not exactly. I'm...calming you. Let it take effect.

NO...no no on. She thought, finding the tiniest crumb of strength to wiggle.

Shh. You have to accept this or you will die here...and once it affects you completely, you can never survive out there. You'll be like me...changed...transubstantiated...the Eve to my Adam. We'll never be alone again and we'll reign here.

His charcoal tongue and jagged lips caressed hers as she tried to fight it but her body had turned to docile dead weight, latched and locked onto him against her will.

Hmmm. What a soft, wet, fragile, thing you are, and I have been parched...scorched. I can see why dear Eddie is bewitched by the taste of you. I almost consumed him. Did you know that? He was very nearly...acclimated...as well. But no matter, I'd rather have you.

Screaming..she was screaming loudly in her mind, though her body wouldn't obey. Disgust and fury flashed through her like lightning bolts, not just for herself now, but for poor Eddie, almost eaten alive here 15 years ago...all to quench a monster's endless blood thirst.

Shhhhhhhh. Shhh, he cooed, Oh I know this is not ideal. You must be so afraid..disoriented. Let's go somewhere more comfortable, shall we?

@sweetsigyn @veemoon @elegantkoalapaper @little-wormwood @hellfirenacht

#eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x ofc

11 notes · View notes

hellishere7980 · 11 months

Text

IMW Chapter 11

Meanwhile in the Watchtower

The Watchtower was in chaos.

It had been 2 hours since the live broadcast broke and shocked the world. 2 hours since the Justice League realised they had missed something this big for almost eight years, and didn’t know about it until a week after the situation had been solved by a group of heroes that they had never heard of.

Every screen in the meeting room was on, flashing snippets of information about the reign of Shadow Moth. Videos of the battles and interviews, articles, websites and social media as their supercomputer compiled every bit of information it could find.

The room was filled with noise, a constant roar as everyone tried to be heard.

The magic users were together in a cluster; consulting books, grimoires, scrolls and each other in a confused panic.

They were muttering as they paced, wondering how they had missed magic of the magnitude Paris had witnessed when among them were some of the most powerful magic users on the planet; John Constantine, Zatanna and Doctor Fate.

Other members of the Justice League tried to make sense of it in their own way, arguing, (like children in Robin's view) as they scrambled to come up with any sort of reason for how something this big had gone unnoticed, why they had missed it and the reason behind it all in the first place.

Batman stood by himself, waiting for the super computer to finish so he could sort the information and start the process of following any leads he found to start answering the many questions he had. He was internally panicking about Isabella but shoved it down. First he’ll deal with this then open that can of worms.

His title as the World’s Greatest Detective had taken a blow. And so had his ego.

His Isa was in a warzone and hadn’t even known!

He changed into his Batman gear and walked into the zeta tube in time for the emergency meeting the Justice League had issued.

Everyone was in too much shock to start it productively, and they were stuck waiting for their supercomputer to finish its deep dive. The computer beeped, signalling that it had finished its task. The room fell into silence as everyone immediately turned their attention to the screens and monitors, and Batman begrudgingly did the same. For a second, no one moved, unsure who was going to begin to sort through and read out the info.

But Red Robin stepped up. For a moment Bruce wondered what Isa would have done with him for bonding? Shutting off that line of thinking, Batman hardened his heart as a wave of pain and grief washed over him as memories of her beautiful eyes floated through his head.

Now wasn’t the time to think about her. He had shipped her off for her safety. Nothing was going to change that.

Focusing back on the present, Batman watched as Red Robin sat in the chair in front of the keyboard connected to the largest monitors and grabbed the mouse, looking “This website was recommended by the French Government for anyone wanting information on what happened and it is the only website or platform that has the Court of Miracles’ stamp of approval on it. It’s linked to an app of the same name that has the alarm Paris used to alert its citizens of an Akuma attack and the attacks classification.” Red Robin said, voice carrying clearly over the silence in the room.

Batman watched as Red Robin brought up a website called Bug.Out, the screens in the meeting room showing it for everyone to see and at a quick glance, Batman was interested to see that a lot of the information he wanted was likely going to be found in that one website alone.

From what he could see from the homepage, it was very well organised. There were many clearly labelled drop-down headings that allowed for an easy search for information while below them was a link to download the Bug.Out app.

Red Robin clicked onto the Timeline tab and began at the beginning, speaking at first but trailing off as people began to talk, cutting him off to discuss what they learnt. As they got further through the Timeline, Batman got steadily more frustrated and horrified.

It started years ago, and victim zero had been an 13-year-old boy in school.

In front of his classmates, the boy, whose name wasn’t given for privacy reasons, was turned into a giant stone monster and went on a rampage, destroying everything in his way, killing hundreds of people and injuring many more before he was stopped by two heroes; Ladybug and Chat Noir.

The people of Paris didn’t have time to come to terms with what happened, stuck between panic at the attack that hadn’t been explained and awe at having heroes when a cloud of purple butterflies descended over the city, turning hundreds of people into giant stone beings and froze them in time.

The heroes weren’t seen for twenty-four hours as those people remained changed, frozen in their forms before the same eleven-year-old boy was turned back into the giant monster and began his rampage again, this time, with the help of the stone beings.

The destruction was city wide, the death toll becoming thousands before the original monster was stopped by Ladybug and Chat Noir once more, and the villain behind the attack introduced himself and gave an ultimatum to the two heroes.

Batman watched intently as Red Robin brought up the footage that had been recorded of that first battle, showcasing it across multiple screens.

Stoneheart stood at the top of the Eiffel Tower, his size causing it to groan and bend under his weight as he roared at the military and police personnel surrounding him and his small army of stone beings, a hostage clasped in each of his hands before he threw one. In a blur of red, Ladybug appeared and caught the girl, later identified as Chloé Bourgeois, before she splattered on the ground. After making the girl go to the barricade, Ladybug faced Stoneheart, Chat Noir landing beside her.

The military gave the order to open fire, but Ladybug told them to stand down, the order ringing out magically over the screams and noise. An argument ensued between her and the military, but the distance between the camera man and the hero made it impossible to hear what was being said. Attention only turned from the argument back to Stoneheart as the monster released a pained groan and a wave of glowing purple butterflies erupted from its mouth, forming a face high above the Eiffel Tower, shocking everyone into a fearful silence.

The face introduced itself as Hawkmoth and gave an ultimatum, demanding the heroes’ magic or it would destroy the city and kill everyone in it.

What Batman wasn’t expecting was for Ladybug to laugh and give a sarcastic applause as she walked towards the army of stone monsters like they were nothing, giving the newly introduced terrorist a reality check and a tongue lashing, promising him angrily that she would take his magic.

Ladybug then sprinted at the stone army, using her weapon to launch herself up and over them as they rushed her with a thunderous cry of fury. She then sent the weapon straight into the face of Hawkmoth, piercing him between the eyes. The villain shouted deafeningly in pain, despite not being there in person, and disappeared in a blinding flash of light, leaving everyone frozen in shock.

All that remained was Ladybug, standing in front of the Eiffel Tower; tall, confident and an unwavering pillar of strength as she promised that she would do everything in her power to bring Hawkmoth to justice and keep Paris safe, her voice magically amplified once more.

What followed was something the likes of which Batman had never seen before.

Lifting her hand above her head, her weapon clasped in it, a wave of glowing white butterflies burst from it flying in all directions covering the city. Many people captured them on camera and exclaiming in awe as they fluttered around them.

Batman watched the remaining battle between the heroes, Stoneheart and his army and saw how the heroes won. He studied closely how the akumatized boy transformed back into himself when they ripped a piece of paper and captured the purple butterfly that appeared out of it. But what caused his jaw to drop was when Ladybug vanished the parachute she had somehow summoned earlier in the fight.

Despite it being the second time Ladybug had displayed her magic, this was the first time it was caught on camera properly, and by more than one person.

It was beautiful; a wave of iridescent red that flew around the city, covering everything in its path and restoring everything to the way it had been before the battle.

The damage fixed, the injured healed, the monsters back into people and the dead alive.

Nothing Batman had ever seen was like that; the ability to reverse all of the damage, to bring people back from the dead and heal the injured in a matter of seconds, across a city the size of Paris and with a population of over two million.

No magic user was that powerful. Not Zatanna, Doctor Fate, or Constantine. No one had that kind of power. No one.

It was unreal. God-like. Terrifying.